Wednesday, April 4, 2007

A Shot In The Arm

April 2, 2007

National Vaccine Information Center A young boy on the beach was throwing the washed-up starfish back intothe ocean. A stranger passing by told him not to bother, because it wouldnot make any difference, there were thousands of beaches and millions ofstarfish, and it would not be possible to save all of them. The boy reacheddown, picked up a starfish, threw it back into the ocean and said, smilingsoftly, “ I made a difference for that one!”

"We have one of the most highly vaccinated child populations in the worldand yet we have children who are increasingly chronically ill anddisabled," Founder of the National Vaccine Information Center Barbara LoeFisher said at the rally. "One in 150 children in America is autistic, onein six is learning- disabled." Fisher, author of "A Shot in the Dark," isone of many Americans who think there's a connection even though themedical establishment says no. "What we have to do is not discount thereports of parents that they are taking healthy, bright children in totheir pediatricians to be vaccinated, with now, by age 6, 48 doses of 14vaccines that the government recommends, and many of them are taking homechildren that then they watch regress," Fisher said. Fisher says her son,Christian, suffered brain damage within hours of getting his fourth DPT —diphtheria, pertussus and tetanus — vaccination. Thanks in large part toher pressure, the manufacturer of the DPT vaccine made it safer andCongress was forced to pass the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act whichincluded money for compensation — proof to Fisher that parents should bewary. "The idea that some can be sacrificed in service to the rest is verydangerous," Fisher said." - CBS Sunday Morning News, April 1, 2007

Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:

This past Sunday, April 1, on CBS Sunday Morning News veteran CBScorrespondent Martha Teichner produced a 10 minute segment entitled "A Shotin the Arm," which featured interviews with a vaccine researcher fromUniversity of Tennessee, a World Health Organization official, the authorof a new book that contains vitriolic attacks on modern day vaccine safetycritics, a mother and father of with an MMR vaccine injured autistic boyseeking vaccine injury compensation, and me. Martha Teichner, who has wonfour Emmy Awards and other journalism awards during her distinguished 30year career at CBS, and her producer, Jason Sacca, took great care toexamine all sides of the vaccine benefit and risk controversy and place itin an historic context. Although some parents may feel that there was toomuch time devoted to extolling the benefits of vaccines, others were leftwanting more to be said about the risks of vaccines.

Shortly after the segment aired at 9 a.m. EST, the CBS message boardsbegan to receive comments from parents expressing strong opinions. Oneviewer wrote " The truth is autism is a genetic defect and parents cannotaccept that they themselves are the cause of their child's autism...so mucheasier to blame everyone else...when you decide to create a child yourdefective genes are to blame and no one else."

Another viewer complained "We are disappointed that CBS implicitlylegitimized the claims that vaccines are associated with autism. Althoughthere are some known, proven risks to vaccines, autism is not among theserisks. Several recent studies have shown that children who receive vaccinesare at no higher risk for developing autism than those that do not."

But then there were viewers who saw it another way. One parent wrote " Wehave two kids in our extended family (one on my side and one on husband'sside) that became severely autistic within days after their vaccinations.Both were healthy up to the day of vaccination. Both are boys. Should I beweighing out pro's and con's of having my child vaccinated? Should I bebullied by the doctors ? Should I play Russian Roulettte with my child'slife? I think not! I don't need science, literature, statistics, anarticle, medical journal, the government, a doctor or anyone else to tellme what I can see with my own two eyes ! As a medical professional myself,I think every parent should spend a day with an autistic child (God knowsthey are not hard to find these days) before they consider a vaccinationfor their own child."

And another parent wrote " It is all very well for some in an ivory towerliving on a grant from drug pharma to blather on and on, but real Americanshave to deal with a Merck vaccine that deafens children. How does thatintellectual advise explaining to a 7 year-old why he is suddenly totallyand irreversibly deaf as a result of state required, Merck-pushed MMRvaccine? How does one communicate practically within several weeks fromregular voice to absolutely nothing?

The segment was even viewed differently by those who were interviewed forthe story. I thanked Martha Teichner and her producer for treating everyonefeatured on the segment with respect and producing an intelligent andthoughtful analysis of a multi-faceted debate. However, the author whosebook attacking vaccine critics was featured prominently in the segment wasunhappy with the fact they "presented the claims of the parents of theautistic boy and of Barbara Loe Fisher without giving anyone a chance torebut them." On his blog he states that he wrote a letter to CBScomplaining that "neither I nor any of the doctors or scientists were givena chance to refute the autism theory. You say that the "medicalestablishment" doesn't believe it, but that's a distortion. It is theSCIENCE that doesn't support the theory. I realize you probably didn't havetime to do the research to understand this yourselves, but you should haveallowed a scientist, or me, to say it."

Those, whose mission in life is to act as a kind of vaccine thought patrol,cannot stand it when a journalist honestly examines the benefits and risksof vaccines and does not tell the reader or viewer what to think and whatto do. These bully boys prefer to have vaccine casualties kept in a darkcloset away from the eyes of the public, where they don't make peopleconfront difficult scientific, political, economic and moral issues.

CBS Sunday Morning News will be taking comments on this story for the next48 hours. For those who would like to go on the record about what youthink, go to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/

CBS) Eleanor and Mark Tremblay have trouble looking at their son, Oliver,who is eight years old and severely autistic, without saying to themselves,"if only...."

As they play the videos showing how Ollie was before, they think, if onlythey could just rewind their lives; if only they could skip that shot: themeasles, mumps and rubella vaccinations they believe caused their son'sautism, although there is no conclusive evidence.

Dr. James Dale, a professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee'shealth science center in Memphis, has spent more than 30 years working toperfect a vaccine to prevent streptococcus, the infection that causes strepthroat and, in its more virulent forms, so-called flesh-eating disease andrheumatic fever.

On one side you have Dr. Dale, determined to save millions of children —and on the other, the Tremblays, heartbroken over the fate of one boy.Between them you have the story of vaccines: The greater good versus therisk, no matter how small, to the individual.

It's a debate that began in this country nearly three hundred years agoover smallpox.

"It was a disease that would sweep through cities and infect, you know,tens of thousands of people at a time, and it would kill 20, 30, 50 percentof them," said journalist Arthur Allen, the author of "Vaccine, theControversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver."

"The first form of smallpox vaccine came from China and India where it wasused for centuries and it entered the U.S. in 1721. Cotton Mather actuallybrought it to the United States."

Mather was a hellfire and brimstone Puritan preacher from Boston. His housewas firebombed when he urged Bostonians to try scratching live smallpoxinfection into their skin.

In 1796, British country doctor Edward Jenner confirmed that milkmaids,exposed to a much milder cowpox virus, were immune to smallpox. Millions ofpeople finally dared to be vaccinated with Jenner's cowpox serum. The termvaccinate comes from the Latin word for cow, vacca.

"Confidence in vaccines and mistrust in vaccines goes in waves," Allensaid. "And also, another element is really the seriousness of the disease.I mean, when the polio vaccine came out in 1955, it came into a countrythat was petrified of polio."

The conquest of polio became a national crusade.

"Millions of Americans participated in the March of Dimes," Allen said."They literally sent their dimes to the White House."

In 1955, the announcement was made that Jonas Salk's polio vaccine worked.The fact that 200 people were paralyzed after getting the shot and tendied, was overlooked.

"Jonas Salk, you know, was a god," Allen said. "Church bells were ringingaround the country. People were embracing in the street. It was a moment ofunmitigated jubilation around the country."

Now they're protesting. Last month, there was a rally in Washington againstthe new human papilloma virus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.

"We have one of the most highly vaccinated child populations in the worldand yet we have children who are increasingly chronically ill anddisabled," Founder of the National Vaccine Information Center Barbara LoeFisher said at the rally. "One in 150 children in America is autistic, onein six is learning-disabled."

Fisher, author of "A Shot in the Dark," is one of many Americans who thinkthere's a connection even though the medical establishment says no.

"What we have to do is not discount the reports of parents that they aretaking healthy, bright children in to their pediatricians to be vaccinated,with now, by age 6, 48 doses of 14 vaccines that the government recommends,and many of them are taking home children that then they watch regress,"Fisher said.

Fisher says her son, Christopher, suffered brain damage within hours ofgetting his fourth DPT — diphtheria, pertussus and tetanus — vaccination.Thanks in large part to her pressure, the manufacturer of the DPT vaccinemade it safer and Congress was forced to pass the National ChildhoodVaccine Injury Act which included money for compensation — proof to Fisherthat parents should be wary.

"The idea that some can be sacrificed in service to the rest is verydangerous," Fisher said.

Nobody actually knows how many vaccine injuries occur but 17,000 werevoluntarily reported in the U.S. last year. The true number is believed tobe much higher — but how to weigh that against the benefit of vaccination?

"We forget about the paralysis that plagued our towns years ago," Dr. JonAndrus said. "We forget that our mothers said, "Don't go to the pool formore than two hours, because you'll get polio. We forget about what measleshave done. We forget that children in Africa die of diarrhea and pneumonia."

Dr. Andrus has spent nearly 15 years running immunization programs aroundthe globe for the World Health Organization. One of his proudest momentswas his involvement in India's polio eradication campaign — 125 millionchildren were vaccinated in one day.

"We live in a global community," Andrus said. "We would not want ourchildren left unprotected as long as virus is circulating throughout theworld. Polio is a very good example; the last three outbreaks of polio inthe U.S. were all due to importations."

Even though Mark and Eleanor Tremblay blame vaccines for their son, Ollie'sautism, they said they are not against vaccines. They just wish they'dknown what to ask about the risk.

"Well, we just did, you know, what parents are supposed to do, what thepediatrician tells you to do," Eleanor Tremblay said.

The Tremblays are among more than 4,700 families who are suing the federalgovernment claiming that the mercury preservative in certain vaccinescaused their children's autism. The trial, set to begin in June, is likelyto have enormous implications, no matter what the outcome.

ABOUT ME

I am a writer, film maker, artist, and non vax / natural immunity advocate. I am a vegetarian and supporter of human rights for all. I am a bit of a smart ass, and I have a very strange sense of humour. Currently I am working on a non vax / natural immunity / vaccine injury documentary called "SPOTTING THE TRUTH" and I run a community for people who are non vaxers and supporters of natural immunity on GOOGLE+. I can be contacted by email forcedanarchy@gmail.com or on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or GOOGLE+